Under preparation.

Handling Issues in Transcription, Notation, and Annotation #

The Myōgishō is a dictionary of Hanzi (Chinese characters). To accurately decipher its content and convert it into digital text, it is necessary to first understand the various characteristics visible in the original Myōgishō manuscripts and then to establish specific methods for data input and processing.

First, as the Myōgishō is an ancient manuscript, scribal errors are unavoidable. Under Scribal Issues, we will address Miswritten Characters (誤字, goji), Omitted Characters (脱字, datsuji), Superfluous Characters (衍字, enji), and Correction Marks (訂正符号, teisei fugō).

Next, the Myōgishō employs sophisticated notational conventions for characters and words to convey diverse information related to the form, sound, and meaning of Hanzi (Chinese characters) accurately and efficiently. Under Notational Conventions for Characters and Words, we will discuss frequently used Abbreviated Characters (略字, ryakuji), Variant Characters (itaiji) (異体字), Iteration Marks (踊り字, odoriji), and Substitution Marks (代用符号, daiyō fugō). Although not numerous, examples of Compound Marks (合符, gōfu)—symbols used to connect characters to indicate they form a compound word—also exist and will be briefly introduced here. Since the nature of Substitution Marks and Compound Marks can be difficult to grasp, they will be explained in detail with examples in their respective dedicated sections.

Finally, various ingenious methods are also applied to information added beyond the main text of the Myōgishō, as well as to physical characteristics such as layout and variations in character size. Under Additional Notations and Layout Features, we will cover:

Interlinear Notes (割注, warichū),
variations in the size of characters within Original Glosses (注文文字の大小, chūmon moji no daishō),
Small Character Annotations (小字注記, shōji chūki),
Annotations from Variant Manuscripts (異本注記, ihon chūki),
Source Attributions (出典注記, shutten chūki),
Tone Marks (shōten) (声点),
Morphosyntactic Glosses (wokototen) (ヲコト点),
line breaks and spacing (改行・空白, kaigyō/kūhaku),
Interpolated Glosses (補入注文, honyū chūmon),
unannotated Entries (無注記, muchūki), and
other noteworthy cases.

We will also explain how these are input and processed. The explanation of Tone Marks (shōten) will concurrently cover voiced sound symbols and nasal sound symbols."

While the primary focus of this explanation will be on issues common to the entire text of the Myōgishō, if there are problems specific to the constituent elements of an Entry—namely the Headword, Notes on Character Form, Phonetic Glosses, Semantic Glosses in Chinese, and Japanese Native Readings (wakun)—these will also be addressed according to their significance. For example, “iteration marks” (踊り字, odoriji) are a common issue across various elements of an Entry, whereas “Tone Marks (shōten)” and “nasal sound symbols” (鼻音符号, bionfugō) are particularly problematic in the context of Phonetic Glosses.

In the published data, the transcription of Headwords is recorded in the hanzi_entry and original_entry columns of the krm_main file. Similarly, the hanzi_entry and original_entry columns in the krm_notes file contain the same content as those in krm_main. The krm_wakun file exclusively lists Japanese Native Reading (wakun) data in its wakun_elements column.

Furthermore, instances requiring particularly detailed explanation are described in the remarks column of the krm_notes file as Compiler's Remarks.

For more details on the overall structure of the published data and file formats, please refer to the Overview of Public Data.

The transcription of the Original Glosses is recorded in the definition column of the krm_main public data file. In the krm_notes file, the constituent elements of the Original Glosses—namely Notes on Character Form, Phonetic Glosses, Semantic Glosses in Chinese, Japanese Native Readings (wakun), and Other information—are categorized and recorded in the definition_elements column.

Scribal Issues #

This section addresses issues such as Miswritten Characters (誤字, goji), Omitted Characters (脱字, datsuji), Superfluous Characters (衍字, enji), and Correction Marks (訂正符号, teisei fugō).

`Miswritten Characters` (誤字, goji) #

When a Headword is clearly a Miswritten Character (誤字, goji), the collated (corrected) form is recorded in the hanzi_entry column, and the original manuscript form is recorded in the original_entry column. The basis for the collation is provided in the remarks column of the krm_notes file (for details on krm_notes, please refer to the relevant section in the Overview of Public Data).

Examples (Original Japanese remarks):

hanzi_entry: 向／後, original_entry: 〇／ー（彴）, remarks: 掲出字は「向後」とすべきを誤る。岡田研究193-194頁に「ー」使用は高山寺本が適切との指摘あり。
hanzi_entry: 姡, original_entry: 活, remarks: 掲出字は誤写。高山寺本・蓮成院本・西念寺本「姡」に作るにより改める。

As illustrated by the preceding examples, the remarks in the krm_notes file are originally written in Japanese. English translations of these specific remarks are provided below for reference.

English Translations of remarks examples:

For hanzi_entry ‘向／後’: Erroneous Headword; should be ‘向後’. Okada (pp. 193-194) notes the use of ‘ー’ is appropriate for the Kōzan-ji ms.
For hanzi_entry ‘姡’: Miscopied Headword. Corrected to ‘姡’ per Kōsan-ji, Renshō-in, & Sainen-ji mss.

`Omitted Characters` (脱字, datsuji) #

When a character is clearly omitted from a Headword, the presumed omitted character is indicated by enclosing it in full-width square brackets “［］”. If further explanation is necessary, it is provided separately (e.g., in the Compiler's Remarks).

Examples:

将／［指］
叔／［母］

In Example 1, the Headword is found in the “手” (hand) radical section, and it is evident from the context that the character ‘指’ is missing.

In Example 2, the Headword is found in the “女” (woman) radical section. Given the presence of the character ‘母’ in preceding and succeeding Entries, its omission here is clear.

If it is clear that a character has been omitted, but the specific missing character is unknown, it is indicated by a full-width underscore within full-width square brackets, like “［＿］”.

The following example illustrates a case where either the first or second character of a fanqie spelling was clearly omitted, but the specific missing character is unknown.

Example:

𤎥［＿］覽反

In this example, the Original Glosses for ‘𤎥’ show “覽反”. According to the Guangyun, ‘𤎥’ has readings chùzhān qiè (處占切; level tone, 鹽韻, for the character 䪜) or tǔgǎn qiè (吐敢切; rising tone, 敢韻, for the character 𦵹). Since ‘覽’ has the Guangyun reading gǎnlú qiè (敢盧切; rising tone, 敢韻), it is clear that the first character of the fanqie spelling is missing. Therefore, it is transcribed as “［＿］覽反”.

`Superfluous Characters` (衍字, enji) #

Cases of Superfluous Characters (衍字, enji) are noted in the remarks column of the krm_notes.tsv file.

Examples are shown below in the order of Headword (hanzi_entry), relevant part of the Original Glosses (definition_elements from krm_notes or context from krm_main’s definition), and Compiler's Remarks (remarks).

Examples:

Headword (hanzi_entry): 胳 Original Glosses (excerpt from definition / definition_elements): 又俗音腋也 Compiler's Remarks (remarks): The character ‘也’ in “又俗音腋也” is superfluous.
Headword (hanzi_entry): 眺 Original Glosses (excerpt from definition / definition_elements): *ヒカヽメ Compiler's Remarks (remarks): The Shinsen Jikyō has “又比加目”. The ‘ヽ’ mark here is possibly a superfluous character, but this remains questionable (存疑, zongi).

`Correction Marks` (訂正符号, teisei fugō) #

The marks used for corrections in the main text include Transposition Marks (転倒符, tentōfu), Deletion Marks (見消符, misekechifu), and Interpolation Marks (補入符, honyūfu).

Transposition Marks (転倒符, tentōfu; also called 顛倒符, tentōfu)[^1] are used to correct the order of characters within a Multi-Character Form Headword.
Deletion Marks (見消符, misekechifu; also called 抹消符, masshōfu)[^2] often indicate that the correct Headword is provided as a side note (e.g., 傍記 or 傍書).
Interpolation Marks (補入符, honyūfu)[^3] are used to correct the order of Entries.

When inputting the main text data, the text is entered in its corrected form as indicated by these correction marks, and the details of such corrections are recorded in the remarks column (which forms part of the Compiler's Remarks).

In the input examples that follow, detailed explanations are provided for each instance of correction or annotation. This explanatory content constitutes the Compiler's Remarks and is recorded in the remarks column of the krm_notes file.

Example 1:

hanzi_entry: 儻／儻
definition_elements: コヒネカハクハ
remarks: Nishihata, Gosha Shorei (Examples of Scribal Errors), p. 54, item ③ “moji no irekawari” (character transposition) no. 818. Kusakawa Noboru (“Ruiju Myōgishō Wakun Shōkō,” p. 29) notes that the Kōzan-ji manuscript has a Transposition Mark on the upper right of ‘ヒ’ in “コネヒカハクハ,” indicating the character transposition error (as pointed out by Nishihata for the Kanchi-in manuscript) had already been resolved.

Example 2:

hanzi_entry: 拻
definition_elements: 不定「ウシヽ歟」相撃
remarks: Masamune’s Index, under ‘ウシヽ’, notes: “Is ‘ウシヽ’ an error for ‘ホシヽ’, or was the cursive form of ‘完’ misread as ‘ホシヽ’? It is a lexical error.” Under ‘フ’, it states: “Could this be the character ‘不’, explained in the Jikyō dictionary as ‘音灰不言相撃’ (pronunciation hai, unspoken, mutual strike)? This requires further research.” Kusakawa’s Wakun Shūsei records ‘ウシヽ’ (treating it as a wakun). Ikeda’s note: In the original text “フ定相撃”, there is a red Deletion Mark to the left of ‘定’, and ‘ウシヽ歟’ (“perhaps ウシヽ?”) is written to its right in red. This is likely an editorial note (ango) added due to misidentifying a Hanzi (Chinese character) as kana.

Example 3:

hanzi_entry: ⿸𠂋帀
definition_elements: △在下
remarks: Although ‘△’ is written in a large size similar to a Headword, it is not a Headword itself but should be regarded as an Interpolation Mark.

Notational Conventions for Characters and Words #

This section discusses frequently used Abbreviated Characters (略字, ryakuji), Variant Characters (itaiji) (異体字), Iteration Marks (踊り字, odoriji), Substitution Marks (代用符号, daiyō fugō), and Compound Marks (合符, gōfu).

`Abbreviated Characters` (略字, ryakuji) #

Abbreviated Characters (略字, ryakuji; also called 簡略字, jiǎnlüèzì in Chinese) found in the manuscript are generally normalized to their standard, common forms in the transcribed data.

Examples: (The left side shows the abbreviated form found in the manuscript, and the right side shows the normalized character used in the data.)

亠 → 音 (on)
﹅ → 也 (nari, ya)
彳 → 従 (jū, shitagau)
扌 → 於 (o, okeru)
乂 → 反 (han; as in fanqie 反切)
禾 → 和 (wa; as in Wa-on 和音, an older layer of Sino-Japanese pronunciation)
谷 → 俗 (zoku) (but see note below)
牜 → 物 (butsu, mono)
类 → 類 (rui)
欤 → 歟 (yo, ka)

Among these, examples 1 through 4 are illustrated in the prefatory notes (凡例, hanrei) of the Myōgishō in a section explaining “注中多略用片” (meaning “in the glosses, abbreviated forms, often single components of characters [like radicals or katakana], are frequently used”).

Example 1 (亠 for 音 ‘sound/pronunciation’), Example 5 (乂 for 反 ‘reversal’, used in fanqie spellings), and Example 6 (禾 for 和 ‘harmony/Japanese’, used to denote Go-on (和音, Wa-on) pronunciations) are frequently used in Phonetic Glosses.

Example 7 (谷 for 俗) is frequently used in Notes on Character Form (to mean ‘popular/vulgar’ form), and example 8 (牜 for 物) is frequently used in Japanese Native Readings (wakun). However, ‘谷’ can also be used with its inherent meaning (“valley”). In such cases, it is transcribed as ‘谷’ and not normalized to ‘俗’. For instance, Headwords containing ‘谷’ as a component are listed under the ‘八’ (eight) radical section (八部, hachibu) of the Kanchi-in manuscript. The Entry for ‘豅’, for example, has its semantic meaning given in the original text as “大長谷” (large long valley), so ‘谷’ is retained as is.

Example 9 (类 for 類) is used in Entries derived from category names in the Wamyō Ruijushō (倭名類聚抄), such as “草類” (types of grasses) and “苔類” (types of mosses).

Example 10 (欤 for 歟) is used in notes expressing doubt or questioning the correctness of characters or phrases (these are considered types of editorial notes or ango).

`Variant Characters (itaiji)` (異体字) #

While care has been taken to input variant characters (itaiji) used as Headwords in a form that is faithful to, or closely approximates, their appearance in the original manuscript, the basic policy for variant characters (itaiji) appearing within the Original Glosses is to normalize them to their common or standard forms.

Examples (Original form → Normalized form):

𡰱 → 尼
凢 → 凡
𠩄 → 所
𢘻 → 悉
俻 → 備

`Iteration Marks` (踊り字, odoriji) #

For Kanji Iteration Marks (踊り字, odoriji; also known as 疊字符, diézìfú in Chinese), the mark “〻” (NINOMAETEN, U+303B) is used, while “々” (DITTO MARK, U+3005) is not.

For iteration marks in Katakana used for Japanese Native Readings (wakun), the mark “ヽ” (KATAKANA ITERATION MARK, U+30FD) is used.

The marks “〱” (KUNOJITEN, U+3031), “〳” (KUNOJITEN WITH VOICED SOUND MARK, U+3033), and “〵” (KUNOJITEN WITH SEMI-VOICED SOUND MARK, U+3035) are not used; instead, the KATAKANA ITERATION MARK is repeated, such as “ヽヽ”.

Examples:

Example in a Headword: 曽／ー（祖）／〻（母）
Example in a Japanese Native Reading (wakun): 陽　アタヽカナリ
Example in a Japanese Native Reading (wakun): 倍　マスヽヽ

`Substitution Marks` (代用符号, daiyō fugō) #

The Substitution Mark (代用符号, daiyō fugō), appearing as ‘｜’ in Headwords that are compound words (熟語, jukugo), is a symbol used when substituting for an annotated character (被注字, hichūji; also 被釋字, hishakuji; i.e., the target character of an annotation) or a previously listed Headword. In the data, this ‘｜’ mark is input using ‘ー’ (CHOONPU - long vowel mark, U+30FC), and the actual character it represents is then input within full-width parentheses ‘（）’.

When the symbol ‘｜’ is used within the Original Glosses to indicate the same character as the Headword, it is simply input as ‘ー’ (CHOONPU - long vowel mark, U+30FC), without an accompanying indication of the character it represents.

Examples:

Examples in Headwords: 五／ー（人） (here ‘ー’ substitutes for ‘人’), …, 真／人, 漁／ー（人）, 海／ー（人）
Example in Original Glosses: 鄲邯ー縣名 (For the Headword ‘鄲’, the gloss “邯ー縣名” indicates that “邯ー” refers to “邯鄲”, which is a county name.)

`Compound Marks` (合符, gōfu) #

A Compound Mark (合符, gōfu; also known as 連字符, liánzìfú in some contexts, though originally a vertical linking line in the manuscript) is represented in this dataset by a hyphen-minus (’-’, U+002D). Examples of its use are relatively rare.

Example:

Headword: 媊 Original Glosses (excerpt): 箭(R)貲二音　又煎(L)音　太-白-星

In the Original Glosses for the Headword ‘媊’, the notation “太-白-星” appears at the end. In this context, the hyphens function as Compound Marks, linking the characters ‘太’, ‘白’, and ‘星’ to form the term “太白星” (Tàibáixīng), which refers to the planet Venus.

`Additional Notations and Layout Features` #

Finally, this section addresses various issues related to additional notations and layout features found in the Myōgishō. If using the Myōgishō as a resource for the historical phonology or lexicology of Japanese, it is particularly important to carefully read the explanations regarding Tone Marks (shōten), voiced sound marks (濁点, dakuten), and nasal sound symbols.

`Interlinear Notes` (割注, warichū) #

The basic form is warichū sōgyō (割注双行; meaning “small character definition in two lines,” comparable to 雙行夾注, shuāngháng jiāzhù in Chinese contexts), which are transcribed from right to left according to their original appearance. If an interlinear note extends to three lines, the part judged to be an addition is transcribed last.

Variations in the Size of Characters within `Original Glosses` #

There are rare instances where a character within the Original Glosses is mistakenly written in a large size, leading to potential confusion with a Headword.

Example:

hanzi_entry: 憙
definition (representing Original Glosses): 音喜（L-H）　又嬉　コノム（LLH）　喜「注也」　ネカフ (further glosses omitted)

In this example, following the Headword ‘憙’, the Original Glosses provide a Phonetic Gloss, a Note on Character Form (implicitly, “又嬉” suggesting a variant or related form), and a Japanese Native Reading (wakun). After these, the character ‘喜’ is written in a large size, followed by other Japanese Native Readings (wakun) such as ‘ネカフ’. To the right of the large character ‘喜’, there is a note “注也” (chū nari; “this is a gloss/annotation”), indicating that ‘喜’ itself functions as a Semantic Gloss in Chinese for the Headword ‘憙’.

`Small Character Annotations` (小字注記, shōji chūki) #

Annotations made using small characters are referred to as Small Character Annotations (小字注記, shōji chūki). Small Character Annotations are frequently found in Notes on Character Form (字体注, jitaichū); these are specifically termed Small Character Notes on Character Form (小字字体注記, shōji jitaichūki).

There are instances where a Phonetic Gloss for a Hanzi (Chinese character) used within an Original Gloss is itself annotated in an interlinear style (割注形式, warichū keishiki); this is termed a Nested Interlinear Note (再割注, saiwarichū; or 再夾注, zàijiāzhù in Chinese; meaning “smaller character definition in two lines, reapplied”).¹

Additionally, there are cases where a Semantic Gloss in Chinese is added in small characters directly below a Japanese Native Reading (wakun); this is termed a Small Character Semantic Gloss for Wakun (小字和訓義注, shōji wakun gichū).

Small Character Annotations are transcribed by enclosing the relevant portion in full-width angle brackets (〈〉, U+3008 and U+3009).

Examples:

Example of Small Character Notes on Character Form: 又鞘〈正〉 (Found in the Notes on Character Form for the Headword ‘削’).
Example of Nested Interlinear Note: 従夾〈公合〉成恰反 (For the Headword ‘陜’, the second character ‘夾’ of the fanqie spelling is further glossed with another fanqie spelling in small characters).
Example of Small Character Semantic Gloss for Wakun: アク〈髪〉 (For the Headword ‘結’, this note is attached to the Japanese Native Reading (wakun) ‘アク’ to distinguish it from homonyms (開く, 厭く, 挙ぐ) and to indicate the meaning of tying up ‘hair’ (髪)).

Cases where what should have been a Small Character Semantic Gloss for Wakun was mistakenly written in the same large size as the main Original Glosses are transcribed using 〈〉, and a note to this effect is made in the remarks column (as a Compiler's Remark).

The following examples are shown in the order of Headword, Japanese Native Reading (wakun) (including the erroneously large annotation transcribed within 〈〉), and Compiler's Remarks.

Examples:

Headword: 展 Japanese Native Reading (wakun): ヒロク〈眉〉 Compiler's Remarks: The annotation 〈眉〉 is written in a large size.
Headword: 度 Japanese Native Reading (wakun): トコ〈床〉 Compiler's Remarks: The semantic gloss is written in a large size.

`Annotations from Variant Manuscripts` (異本注記, ihon chūki) #

Annotations from Variant Manuscripts (異本注記, ihon chūki) can pertain to either the Headword or the Original Glosses.

Annotations from Variant Manuscripts pertaining to a Headword are indicated by a preceding ‘▲’ (U+25B2 BLACK UP-POINTING TRIANGLE) followed by the content of the annotation enclosed in Japanese quotation marks 「」.

Annotations from Variant Manuscripts pertaining to the Original Glosses are enclosed in full-width parentheses（）, U+FF08 and U+FF09. They are shown in the format: original character(s) in the gloss - annotation from the variant manuscript.

The symbol representing an “annotation from a variant manuscript” itself (異本注記) is often the Katakana character ‘イ’ (which might be a part of the ‘他’ character in ‘他本’, tahon, meaning “other manuscript,” or simply represent ‘異’).

Examples:

Annotation from Variant Manuscripts (for a Headword): ▲𦫿「艾」
Annotation from Variant Manuscripts (for a Headword): ▲捺「⿰扌柰イ」
Annotation from Variant Manuscripts (for Original Glosses): 責猛（猛-⿰亻孟イ）二音

`Source Attributions` (出典注記, shutten chūki) #

Book titles or personal names indicating a source are enclosed in double angle brackets (《》, U+300A and U+300B).

Examples:

Example of a personal name: 齔《王右軍》作 (Here, 《王右軍》 Ō Ugun [Wang Youjun] indicates the person who created or used this form/reading).
Example of a personal name: 𡫸 ◇《弘法大師》又云 (Here, ◇ indicates a note in literary Chinese placed to the right of the Headword, and 《弘法大師》 Kōbō Daishi is the cited person).
Example of a book title: 它可見《類音决》 (Here, 《類音决》 Ruionketsu is the cited book title, meaning “can be seen in the Ruionketsu”).
Example of a book title: 𭘬《大日經疏》云丁也反 (Here, 《大日經疏》 Dainichikyōsho is the cited book title, followed by a fanqie spelling).

In example 2, the ‘◇’ mark indicates that this is an annotation in literary Chinese placed to the right of the Headword.

`Tone Marks (shōten)` (声点) #

Since Tone Marks (shōten) are a feature of great interest to users of the Myōgishō data, they are explained in detail here.

In the published data, the transcription of the Original Glosses is recorded in the definition_elements column of the krm_notes file. By loading krm_notes.tsv into a spreadsheet program like Excel and filtering the definition_type_name column for “Phonetic Gloss” or “Japanese Native Reading (wakun)”, users can extract the relevant information.

Types of Tone Marks (shōten)

Tone Marks (shōten) are indicated by the abbreviations shown in parentheses: Ping/Even (L), Shang/Rising (H), Qu/Departing (R), Ru/Entering (S), Ping-Qing/Even-Light (F), and Ru-Qing/Entering-Light (T). The identification of light tones (軽声, keishō) is provisional.

If the position of a Tone Mark (shōten) is difficult to determine, a question mark “?” is added to indicate this uncertainty.

Voiced sound marks and nasal sound symbols are often displayed concurrently with Tone Marks (shōten), so they are explained next.

Voiced Sounds (濁音, dakuon)

The voiced sound mark (濁音符号, dakuon fugō), indicated by double dots (゛) in the original, is represented by the English letter ‘V’ (U+0056) in the data.

Nasal Sound Symbols (鼻音符号, bion fugō)

The nasal sound symbol (鼻音符号, bion fugō; also 鼻音符, bíyīnfú in Chinese) is represented by “(N)” in the data. In the manuscript, nasal sound symbols appear in forms such as ✓, v, レ, or 」. If it is necessary to refer to the specific shape of a nasal sound symbol, the check mark ‘✓’ (U+2713) is used for explanatory purposes.

Multiple Tone Marks (shōten)

When multiple Tone Marks (shōten) are present, they are listed in the following order: Ping/Even (L) → Ping-Qing/Even-Light (F) → Shang/Rising (H) → Qu/Departing (R) → Ru-Qing/Entering-Light (T) → Ru/Entering (S). They are separated by a hyphen-minus (’-’, U+002D).

Types of Phonetic Glosses

There are three types of Phonetic Glosses:

Fanqie spellings (反切, hansetsu or fanqie),
Similar sound notes (類音注, ruion-chū; annotations indicating similar pronunciations by character), and
Kana glosses (仮名音注, kana-onchū; phonetic annotations in kana).

Tone marks (shōten) and voiced sound indications using double-dot Tone marks (shōten) (i.e., dakuten represented via shōten placement) can be applied to Fanqie spellings, Similar sound notes, and Kana glosses. Nasal sound symbols are applied to Kana glosses.

Types of Japanese Native Readings (wakun)

Japanese Native Readings (wakun) are generally written in Katakana.

The only exception is for ‘木賊’ (tokusa), where the Man’yōgana ‘度久佐’ (tokusa) is used; this instance does not have Tone marks (shōten) applied.

Japanese Native Readings (wakun) can have Tone marks (shōten) and voiced sound indications (using double-dot shōten) applied. There is one recognized, though not entirely certain, instance of a nasal sound symbol being applied to a Japanese Native Reading (wakun) (a nasal sound symbol on ‘ナ’ in the wakun ‘ナラフ’ for the character ‘儔’).

Input and Processing Methods for Tone Marks (shōten), Voiced Sound Marks, and Nasal Sound Symbols

Tone Marks (shōten) and voiced sound indications (using double-dot shōten) are applied to Hanzi (Chinese characters) or to Japanese Native Readings (wakun) written in Katakana. Nasal sound symbols are applied to Phonetic Glosses in Katakana (i.e., Kana glosses) or to Japanese Native Readings (wakun) in Katakana.

For Fanqie spellings (反切, hansetsu), which consist of an initial character (反切上字, hansetsu jōji) and a final character (反切下字, hansetsu kaji), any applied Tone Marks (shōten) are converted to their corresponding symbols (e.g., L, H) and enclosed in full-width parentheses（）.

Similar sound notes (類音注, ruion-chū) are also enclosed in full-width parentheses（）.

Kana glosses (仮名音注, kana-onchū), when written in small characters around fanqie spellings or similar sound notes, are enclosed in Japanese quotation marks 「」. However, if a Kana gloss is explicitly prefixed with “呉” (Go, for Go-on) or “和” (Wa, for Wa-on) within the main text of the Original Glosses, the quotation marks 「」 are omitted.

For Phonetic Glosses, Tone Marks (shōten), voiced sound marks, and nasal sound symbols are recorded on a per-Hanzi (Chinese character) basis (i.e., for each single character). For Japanese Native Readings (wakun), these marks are recorded for the entire word or phrase.

Partial Application of Tone Marks (shōten)

If Tone Marks (shōten) are applied to only a part of a Japanese Native Reading (wakun), the parts without Tone Marks (shōten) are indicated by a half-width underscore (’_’, U+005F). (This typically means Hanzi (Chinese characters) are treated one by one, while a wakun is treated as a whole unit for tone marking, with underscores for unmarked morae/syllables if only part of it is marked).

Examples:

偵勅令（R）反
使所里（H）所使（H）二反
㒓達（S）音
僆輦（H）練（R）二音
偶音藕（HV）「コウ」
侮音武（L-HV）「フ」「ム（H）」
拱呉音恐（L）
捉呉冊（S）サク（_L）
類和ルイ（_L）
形和キヤウ（N_H-N）

Examples 1 and 2 are Fanqie spellings. Examples 3 and 4 are Similar sound notes. Examples 5 and 6 are Similar sound notes accompanied by Kana glosses.

Examples 7 and 8 are Go-on (呉音) readings; example 7 is a Similar sound note, while example 8 is a Similar sound note accompanied by a Kana gloss.

Examples 9 and 10 are Wa-on (和音) readings; example 9 has Tone Marks (shōten) recorded, while example 10 has both Tone Marks (shōten) and nasal sound symbols.

“Regarding Tone Marks (shōten), while distinguishing between those written in red ink (朱点, shuten – also referred to by some specialists as Vermilion Glosses) and those written in black ink (墨点, bokuten) is important, this distinction has not been made in the current data input. We anticipate detailed verification by specialists in historical Japanese phonology.”

`Morphosyntactic Glosses (wokototen)` (ヲコト点) #

No definitive examples of Morphosyntactic Glosses (wokototen) have been confirmed in the manuscript at this time. Should any definitive examples be identified, they will be transcribed using Hiragana.

Line Breaks and Spacing (改行・空白, kaigyō/kūhaku) #

Line breaks as they appear in the original manuscript are not explicitly represented in the transcribed data. Spacing in the data reflects the results of interpretation rather than an exact reproduction of the original manuscript’s spacing.

`Interpolated Glosses` (補入注文, honyū chūmon) #

Interpolated Glosses (補入注文, honyū chūmon) are inserted at positions deemed appropriate based on textual analysis.

Unannotated `Entries` (無注記, muchūki) #

When an Entry has no Original Glosses, this is indicated by “（無）” (using full-width parentheses).

`Supplementary Headword Annotations` (掲出字補注, keishutsuji hochū) #

Annotations applied directly to a Headword are referred to as Supplementary Headword Annotations (掲出字補注, keishutsuji hochū). These include Tone marks (shōten) and Katakana phonetic annotations directly applied to the Headword to indicate Sino-Japanese readings; side-line kun readings (傍訓, bōkun) and kaeriten marks (返点, kaeriten) directly applied to the Headword to indicate Japanese native readings and reading order; and annotations from variant manuscripts found at the end of the Original Glosses (but pertaining to the Headword). These will be explained together here.

Tone Marks (shōten) and Katakana Phonetic Annotations for Headwords

Tone marks (shōten) and Katakana phonetic script applied to a Headword to indicate its Sino-Japanese reading are transcribed at the beginning of the Original Glosses. They are preceded by a double circle (◎, U+25CE) and the annotated character (被注字, hichūji), followed immediately by the annotation. Tone marks (shōten) are represented by their abbreviations within full-width parentheses （）, and Katakana phonetic script is enclosed in Japanese quotation marks 「」.

Side-Line Kun Readings, Kaeriten Marks, and Other Annotations for Headwords

Side-line kun readings (傍訓, bōkun) and kaeriten marks applied to a Headword to indicate its Japanese native reading and reading order are transcribed immediately following the annotated character, preceded by a bullseye mark (⦿, U+29BF) and the annotated character, and enclosed in 「」. Annotations in literary Chinese (such as Fanqie spellings, Semantic Glosses in Chinese, Notes on Character Form, or Source Attributions) applied to a Headword are transcribed immediately following the annotated character, preceded by a lozenge/diamond mark (◇, U+25C7) and the annotated character, and enclosed in 「」. Annotations from Variant Manuscripts applied to a Headword are transcribed immediately following the annotated character, preceded by a black up-pointing triangle (▲, U+25B2) and the annotated character, and enclosed in 「」.

Annotations from Variant Manuscripts at the End of Original Glosses

Annotations from Variant Manuscripts pertaining to the Headword but added at the end of the Original Glosses are indicated by a preceding ‘▲’ at the end of the glosses, with the content of the annotation enclosed in 「」.

Order of Transcription

If it is necessary to transcribe multiple types of Supplementary Headword Annotations for a single Headword, they are recorded in the following order: ◎ Sino-Japanese reading information, ⦿ Japanese native reading information / reading order marks, ◇ Annotations in literary Chinese, ▲ Annotations from variant manuscripts.

Examples:

◎純「ト（L）ン（H）」
⦿虱「キサヽ」
◇⿱惟乃「手歟」
▲⿲骨石辛「𩪧イ」

Other Noteworthy Cases #

Decipherment Notes (判読注, handoku-chū)

A compiler’s decipherment note (解讀注記, jiědú zhùjì in Chinese) may be indicated by enclosing it in parentheses ().

Example:

⿰阝⿱𠂉夕オチイル（L___、ホを見消してチ） (This hanzi_entry (⿰阝⿱𠂉夕) is followed by its Japanese Native Reading (*wakun*) ‘オチイル’ with Tone Marks and a decipherment note “ホを見消してチ” [meaning “‘ホ’ is deleted and replaced by ‘チ’”].)

For this example, the following content would be recorded in the remarks column (as a Compiler's Remark):

Masamune’s Index, under ‘オホ（-ヒ）チイル’, notes: “‘ホ（-ヒ）’ is a mark indicating ‘ホ’ was deleted. Should it be ‘オチイル’?” Kusakawa’s Wakun Shūsei records ‘オホ’ and ‘チイル’ separately. Mochizuki’s Wakun Shūsei records ‘オチイル’. Ikeda’s note: Follow Masamune and Mochizuki.

Fanqie Spellings within Headwords

If a Fanqie spelling is inserted within a Multi-Character Form Headword (typically an idiom/compound), a forward slash ‘/’ (half-width slash) is used to indicate the separation.

Example:

𣚊ー（棗）人充　/　ノナツメ（_HHH）

In this example, which shows the Headword followed by its Original Glosses, the Fanqie spelling “人充” is written directly beneath ‘𣚊’ (the first part of the Headword ‘𣚊ー（棗）’).

Japanese Native Readings (wakun) Attached to Hanzi (Chinese characters) within Original Glosses

Small Katakana characters (representing Japanese Native Readings (wakun)) attached to a Hanzi (Chinese character) within the Original Glosses are transcribed as is, enclosed in Japanese quotation marks 「」. If such a wakun is written in even smaller characters (小字, shōji), it is enclosed in full-width angle brackets 〈〉. Examples of the latter are rare.

Examples:

琢「ミカク」玉工也
圏〈ヲリ〉
ー「タヘ」「平歟」趹「ハシル」追「ヲオフ」蹤「ニクルヲ」

Example 1 is seen within the Original Glosses for the Headword ‘玊’; the Japanese Native Reading (wakun) ‘ミカク’ is attached to the right side of the character ‘琢’.

Example 2 is seen within the Original Glosses for the Headword ‘檻’; the Japanese Native Reading (wakun) is attached below ‘圏’ in small characters.

Example 3 is seen within the Original Glosses for the Headword ‘要’. It shows example sentences (or phrases) and their Japanese Native Readings (wakun).

The term 再割注 (saiwarichū), or 再夾注 (zàijiāzhù in Chinese), implies a “re-application” of an interlinear-style gloss, often to a character already within a gloss. ↩︎

Handling Issues in Transcription, Notation, and Annotation #

Scribal Issues #

Miswritten Characters (誤字, goji) #

Omitted Characters (脱字, datsuji) #

Superfluous Characters (衍字, enji) #

Correction Marks (訂正符号, teisei fugō) #

Notational Conventions for Characters and Words #

Abbreviated Characters (略字, ryakuji) #

Variant Characters (*itaiji*) (異体字) #

Iteration Marks (踊り字, odoriji) #

Substitution Marks (代用符号, daiyō fugō) #

Compound Marks (合符, gōfu) #

Additional Notations and Layout Features #

Interlinear Notes (割注, warichū) #

Variations in the Size of Characters within Original Glosses #

Small Character Annotations (小字注記, shōji chūki) #

Annotations from Variant Manuscripts (異本注記, ihon chūki) #

Source Attributions (出典注記, shutten chūki) #

Tone Marks (*shōten*) (声点) #

Morphosyntactic Glosses (*wokototen*) (ヲコト点) #

Line Breaks and Spacing (改行・空白, kaigyō/kūhaku) #

Interpolated Glosses (補入注文, honyū chūmon) #

Unannotated Entries (無注記, muchūki) #

Supplementary Headword Annotations (掲出字補注, keishutsuji hochū) #

Other Noteworthy Cases #

`Miswritten Characters` (誤字, goji) #

`Omitted Characters` (脱字, datsuji) #

`Superfluous Characters` (衍字, enji) #

`Correction Marks` (訂正符号, teisei fugō) #

`Abbreviated Characters` (略字, ryakuji) #

`Variant Characters (itaiji)` (異体字) #

`Iteration Marks` (踊り字, odoriji) #

`Substitution Marks` (代用符号, daiyō fugō) #

`Compound Marks` (合符, gōfu) #

`Additional Notations and Layout Features` #

`Interlinear Notes` (割注, warichū) #

Variations in the Size of Characters within `Original Glosses` #

`Small Character Annotations` (小字注記, shōji chūki) #

`Annotations from Variant Manuscripts` (異本注記, ihon chūki) #

`Source Attributions` (出典注記, shutten chūki) #

`Tone Marks (shōten)` (声点) #

`Morphosyntactic Glosses (wokototen)` (ヲコト点) #

`Interpolated Glosses` (補入注文, honyū chūmon) #

Unannotated `Entries` (無注記, muchūki) #

`Supplementary Headword Annotations` (掲出字補注, keishutsuji hochū) #